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When kids act out: a comparison of embodied methods to improve children's memory for a story
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 21:49 authored by Molly Berenhaus, Jane Oakhill, Jennifer RustedOver the last decade, embodied cognition, the idea that sensorimotor processes facilitate higher cognitive processes, has proven useful for improving children's memory for a story. In order to compare the benefits of two embodiment techniques, active experiencing (AE) and indexing, for children's memory for a story, we compared the immediate recall of different types of idea units across three conditions. Participants were between the ages of 7 and 11 and were randomly allocated to experimental conditions. The experimental groups were matched on comprehension ability and age. In the indexing condition, children acted out a short story using a playset (i.e., a Playmobil® playset with figurines), in the AE condition, children read the story using enactment, and during the control condition, children simply read the story. We predicted that children in the indexing condition would recall more action-based idea units, whilst children in the AE condition would recall more descriptive and dialogic idea units. Children in the AE condition recalled more descriptive idea units than in the control condition, whilst in the indexing condition, only poorer comprehenders recalled more descriptive information. Our findings suggest that these two embodiment techniques effect different components of reading comprehension and that future research should investigate these differences more specifically.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Journal of Research in ReadingISSN
0141-0423Publisher
Wiley-BlackwellExternal DOI
Issue
4Volume
38Page range
331-343Department affiliated with
- Psychology Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2015-07-22First Open Access (FOA) Date
2016-12-16First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2015-07-22Usage metrics
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